Leon Bridges and Nick Waterhouse look for some loving touch on new duet “Katchi” — listen

Swagger-rich songwriters team up for a match made in blues heaven

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When we premiered Nick Waterhouse’s single “It’s Time” back in July, we were pleasantly surprised by the San Francisco rhythm and blues guitarist’s ability to evoke the classics of the genre — the Bo Diddleys and the Ray Charleses — without coming across as forced or dated. The same could be said about Texas soul singer Leon Bridges, so it seems like a match made in blues heaven that these two kings of swagger have teamed up for the new duet “Katchi”.

But what, pray tell, is “Katchi”? According to Waterhouse, it’s a term Bridges’ family has always used for a nice massage. “Leon and I were in Fort Worth hanging out at a friend’s place getting massages,” he told The Fader. “He was laying on the table while I strummed the chords, bare-chested, he shouted out, ‘She give me KATCHI!’ … His mother’s old Louisiana Indian term for ‘loving touch.’ We rode it out and next thing we know we had a straight cruiser.”

Straight cruiser is right. Combine these two guys’ guitar-strummin’ prowess with Waterhouse’s well-chronicled knack for hooks, and you’re left with one of the hip-shakingest tracks we’ve heard so far off Waterhouse’s forthcoming third full-length studio album, Never Twice. That album drops September 30th via Innovative Leisure, but “Katchi” will make that booty drop right now below.

Waterhouse has also shared the official music video for his single “Old Place”, which compiles footage from various shows and billiards matches he’s participated in this year. The clip was directed by Emma Pollard and can be viewed below.